the Season of Lent
Returning to Ourselves: A Lenten Journey
Returning to Ourselves is a Lenten journey shaped by honesty, tenderness, and hope. Rather than asking us to become someone else, this season invites us to return—to who we are, whose we are, and what is most true.
Following the Gospel readings of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), we move through wilderness and rebirth, thirst and clarity, grief and new life. These ancient stories speak directly to modern lives shaped by exhaustion, longing, uncertainty, and courage.
At Fairfield, Lent is not about striving or self-improvement. It is about remembering. It is about making space to notice where God is already present—within us, among us, and calling us gently home.
This series weaves together Christian theology and psychological wisdom, creating a spacious and welcoming environment for seekers, long-time church members, and the spiritually curious alike.
You do not need to have everything figured out. You do not need to believe a certain way. You are welcome here.
Weekly Themes for Lent
Lent is not about becoming someone else. It is about returning to what is most true.
Ash Wednesday – Returning with Honesty (February 18)
Texts: Joel 2; Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 5; Matthew 6
Practice: Truthful Returning
Pause and gently name where you are right now—without fixing or judging.
Ash Wednesday names repentance not as grovelling or shame, but as return. We begin Lent by telling the truth about who we are and where we are—without performance, without fear.
Lent 1 – Remembering Who We Are Beneath Survival (March 1)
Text: Matthew 4:1–11
Practice: Remembering
Notice one way you protected yourself today, and one way you felt alive.
Lent 2 – Learning Which Voices to Trust (March 8)
Text: John 3:1–17
Theme: Learning which voices to trust
Focus: Risk, curiosity, and the Spirit’s invitation to change
Nicodemus comes by night—thoughtful, cautious, sincere. This is a story for those who are curious but careful, faithful but unsure. Transformation here is not certainty, but trust in the Spirit’s movement.
Lent 4 – Learning to See Clearly (March 15)
Practice: Truth-Telling
Text: John 9:1–41
Write one honest sentence: This is what it’s like to be me right now.
Focus: Truth-telling, courage, and claiming our own story.
This is a story about moving from imposed narratives to lived truth—from “I don’t know” to “I know what I’ve lived.” Illumination here is relational, not doctrinal.
Lent 5 – Letting Go Without Disappearing (March 22)
Practice: Letting Go
Text: John 11:1–45
Gently release one thing that no longer gives life.
This story holds delay, sorrow, and deep love. Jesus weeps. Resurrection is not denial of death, but a call back into relationship, breath, and risk.
Palm / Passion Sunday – Staying When Love Is Costly (March 29)
Practice: Staying
Pause for three slow breaths when things feel uncomfortable.
Text: Matthew 26–27
Theme: Staying present when love is costly
Focus: Faithfulness, vulnerability, and love that will not abandon
The cross is not about heroic suffering, but about presence. Jesus stays—with God, with others, with love—even when everything in him could flee.
